Warrior
by TamashiHiro2701
Summary: Blake Larkin, fresh from Viridian City Trainer Academy, sets off on his journey with his starter a cocky Jangmo-o and an eager Charmander. Together they will have many battles and add to their powerful group. In order to survive in their sometimes dark and deadly world, they'll have to grow strong. They'll have to become, warriors. Eventual epic-length Story.
1. Chapter 1

"Everyone, I'd like to welcome you to the final match of the Viridian Academy graduation tournament finals! Both of our combatants will be given access to not only a Pokedex provided by the esteemed Professor Oak, but a choice of the three starter Poemon native to Kanto, Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur. Our third place contestant, Gris Stellan, will be receiving a Pokedex and starter, but will have to take the one leftover from their choices." The announcer, , the principal of the academy announced to the crowd gathered in the stands. "Oak lab's own Ms. Jasmine Pierce has come to present them with their prizes." The crowd applauded this, as she was famous for her important contributions toward Pokedex technology. The rather short, mousy redhead simply smiled at this before continued.

"Now, without further ado, let's meet our two combatants. On the red side, we have Blake Larkin, who placed second in the tournament's academic section. His exotic partner has helped him shred through the battle portion of the tournament so far. Let's see if those earlier matches have been all luck!" Blake stood on his side of the field, Spiky black hair flattened slightly by the red snapback atop his head. Excitement barely contained by the tapping of his fingers atop an ultra ball at his side. His father was in the stands watching this match. He couldn't lose this match, especially not against **Her**. She'd **never **let him live that down.

"And on the blue side, we have our very own, Weiss Baysan, who has used interesting tactics to win her battles in this tournament. Not surprising considering her position as first in the academic section. Let's see her put that sharp mind of hers to good use!"

Across the field, nearly sixty feet away, there was a pretty, pale-skinned girl with long platinum blonde hair and green eyes who had a look of the utmost confidence on her face. She simply tossed the pokeball in her hand up and down, flashing Blake a smug grin when she noticed him looking. Blake flashed his own fanged grin, before looking back to the battlefield, It was mostly flat land, with rocks of various sizes scattered throughout, with stands on the sidelines filled with several other wannabe trainers.

"Alright trainers, on my signal, send out your Pokemon, blue trainer will get the first move. Try to keep field damage to a minimum." She shot a look at Blake, who grinned, rubbing the back of his head. "This match will begin...Now!" Blake grinned a wolf-like grin at that, tossing his ultra ball in the air before catching it, then throwing it onto the field, releasing his partner, a three-foot tall quadruped Pokémon with reptilian features. The lower half of its body was covered in black scales, while the upper half was a light gray. It had a beak-like snout with a small, tooth-like spike in each corner of its lower jaw and big, red eyes. On the front of its head was a large, heart-shaped yellow scale. Six teardrop-shaped, loose-hanging scales formed a half ring around its shoulders, these scales were gray with pale yellow along the outside edge. A solid yellow scale of the same shape was on the tip of its tail. Each of its feet ended with three yellow claws. Jangmo-o roared upon release, earning a roar of excitement from the watching crowd. He eyed the spot where his opponent would soon be appearing.

Weiss released her own partner, simply pressing the release on the ball. A small, light green, bipedal Pokemon no bigger than a foot tall appeared. It had three thorns on top of its head and had black eyes with long eyelashes. It had epaulette like leaves that extended from its shoulder and a leaf skirt with a yellow stripe running down the front. With a flamboyant spin, releasing rose petals onto the field, her Roselia was prepared for battle.

"Akatosh, drive forward, be wary, Roselia has some interesting tricks. If you can get close enough, use Dragon Breath." Blake commanded, grin faltering as he got serious. Akatosh nodded at his trainer, before proceeding with his trainer's commands. He began sprinting, moving at an impressive speed for a Pokemon as bulky as he was, chest-puffing up slightly, glowing with violet light, as he dashed at his grass type opponent.

"Fleur, line up a layer of Toxic Spikes in front of you, then put the beast to sleep with Sleep Powder!" Weiss commanded, Fleur immediately going to work, flinging a dark purple liquid into the air that quickly congealed into hard spikes as they clattered to the hard ground beneath them. Fleur then released a cloud of yellow spores from the roses on the ends of her arms, this strategy made the field dangerous to pass through without being poisoned and put to sleep.

"Akatosh burn the Sleep Powder with Dragon Breath, then rush straight through the Toxic Spikes and hit her with Tackle!" Blake shouted out to his partner. When Akatosh got close enough, he released the draconic energy he'd stored from his sharp maw, dark, purple draconic flames pouring forth, burning straight through the sleep-inducing spores, ruining that strategy. He then pressed on, crushing the Toxic Spikes on the field beneath his feet, wincing slightly from the sharp points, but due to his tough leather-like skin under his foot the poison within couldn't get through.

Seeing this, Weiss' eyes widened before she called out again, "Fleur, Absorb!" She cried out, cursing as the dragon type ran right through her strategy. Fleur's roses began to glow bright green, drawing in green particles from the scaly Pokemon. Akatosh began to tremble a bit, feeling his energy begin to wane, as it was slowly being sapped away. "Akatosh, Reversal!" Blake called out, with a glint in his red eyes. "Roselia, cancel!" Weiss shouted. The little dragon leapt into the air, tail glowing a bright white. He swung his tail in an arc, slamming his tail into the Roselia as she tried to quickly cancel her earlier attack. She was thrown through the air roughly bouncing on the ground, before getting up, struggling the whole way up. "Roselia, use Bullet Seed!" Weiss commanded. The thorn Pokemon shakily raised one of its roses before releasing a 3 bursts of brown seeds glowing with viridescent energy. "Akatosh, dodge!" Akatosh avoided the first two rounds by dodging behind the large rocks on the field. But when the third round was released, in the attempt to dodge behind another rock, he was hit by the third round of Bullet Seeds. He shook it off quickly before opening his fanged maw and releasing a gout of dark purple draconic flames upon the grass type before him. The thorn Pokemon wailed as it was burned by the heat of the dark flames, before falling to the ground, singed by Dragon Breath. Weiss lost the match.

The crowd went wild at the finale of the battle they'd just witnessed, cheering for both of the trainers on the field.

"And the victory goes to Blake!" The principal cheered, the crowd cheering along with her. He soaked in the praise, flashing his fanged grin. "Everyone, this concludes the Viridian Academy's annual Tournament," She then turned In Blake's Direction. "Blake, now that you've won you have the first pick between the three Kantonian starters, who each have two egg moves to start with. If you'd come up to the stage, you can make your choice. Then Weiss will come up and take hers. Whichever starter you don't pick will go to Mr. Stellan."

When it became clear that she lost, Weiss recalled it with a slight frown, muttering to the Pokeball. "Ugh. You win this round, Blake" The Blonde conceded, disappointed by her loss. Blake flashed his cocky grin, "You bet I won. You and that plant of yours could never beat me and Akatosh." He said before recalling Jangmo-o, whispering to him through the ball, "_Extra Yache berries for you tonight."_ The ball shook briefly in response. "Whatever, if I'd known his skin was so thick I'd've had Fleur set a layer of Spikes too." Weiss said back. "Bah, excuses. Face it, I'm simply too powerful for you." He sneered. "You know, you're such a jerk sometimes!" She spat.

"I know!" He said shooting her an evil grin.

At that Blake made his way up to the stage where Ms. Pierce was standing. She had a case containing three Pokeballs in her hands. Each was labeled with a different name: Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle. "_Hmm. I almost want the Bulbasaur. When it evolves it'll be pretty damned powerful. They're known to be the most powerful species in Kanto after all. A blastoise wouldn't be half bad either, but I know Weiss would want that one. Plus Gris will probably make better use of the grass type than I will. If I'm gonna train one of them I want the most offensive one.."_ Blake picked up the Charmander's pokeball. "I pick Charmander, Ms. Pierce." Blake Announced. "Alright, along with that, you will be receiving...this." The redhead said pulling out a red Pokedex from her lab coat.

It was a Generation VI Pokédex as evidenced by its card-shaped design and its collapsible holographic screen, that only opens when it is opened via the finger-print of the trainer it's assigned to. The differences between each generation of Pokedex were numerous, as the technology was upgraded more and more each time a new one came out. The sixth generation were developed due to collaboration between the Kalos region and the Kanto region. They were the most technologically advanced so far and even had built in communication technology.

"Thank you. This is awesome!" Blake grinned excitedly taking the Pokedex she offered to him.

"You've earned it young man. Now, we have to give out the other two Pokemon and Pokedexes to the two runner ups." Ms. Pierce responded. He got off the stage passing Weiss and Gris on the way. Gris was a boy of thirteen, the same as Weiss and Blake, though he was slightly younger, he had natural silver hair, an uncommon trait in the Kanto region, and dark tanned skin similar to his own, he also had dark cobalt blue eyes. "Yo, Blake, congrats on the win man. Weiss is pissed." Gris snickered at the fuming blonde. "She's always had been a bit of a sore loser." Blake grinned. "Yeah well, she'd better get over it soon. We're all traveling to Pewter together." The whitette said. "Yep, remember we're meeting at my house tomorrow morning, so be on time." Blake informed him. "Right. I'll pass that on to Weiss. Anyway, you should get yourself registered for the League in the meantime. We don't wanna have anything extra to do if we wanna make it through the forest in good time." Gris said heading up to the stage.

**XxX**

"Alright, come on out Charmander!" Blake cried out summoning the orange reptile from the confines of his pokeball. . "Charr?" The fire type trilled in confusion. "Oh, my bad. Hi Charmander, I'm Blake. I'm your new trainer." He said flashing his fangs cheerfully. Charmander grunted in greeting. "I don't want to force you to come with me though. But if you want to be my friend, I would really like to yours." Blake crouched down. Charmander smiled in agreement wagging his tail through the air.

"Awesome! I promise you Charmander one day, me, you, and Akatosh are going to be the strongest team in Kanto- no, the world!" Blake said cheerfully. "Oh, speaking of Akatosh…" Blake said, walking over to the door. "Akatosh, come up and meet Charmander!" Blake called downstairs. Th Pokemon in question grunted in annoyance. He had been in the middle of a bowl of his precious Yache berries. How would Blake like it if he disturbed him in the middle of eating those disgusting Tamato berries he likes. Ugh, the vile things, they were so spicy, he wondered how anyone, human or Pokemon, could stand them.

When the Pokemon made his way upstairs, he warbled a greeting to Charmander who hissed back. He glared at Blake who merely smiled at him. "So, now that you two are acquainted, Charmander, as a member of my team, I'd like to give you a nickname, if you'd like one. Can't have you being just any old Charmander." Blake said. Charmander trilled happily at that. "Alright, cool, let's see…" He then began going down the list of potential nicknames he'd come up with.

"Pyro?"

Charmander shook his head.

"Drake?

Another shake of the head. Blake ended up going through about a dozen different names before deciding on one that Charmander decided he liked.

"How about...Inferno?"

Charmanders tail flame flared a bit at that and he grinned. Blake grinned back at him, Akatosh merely gave an exasperated look at the pair. "Inferno it is. Welcome to the squad, Inferno!"

"Now, come on you two, we have to get packed for the journey ahead of us." Blake said pulling out his new trainer backpack.

"Char!"

"Jang!"

**XxX**

"BLAKE!"

"Aaaugh!" The raven haired boy shouted in surprise, falling from his bed, knocking Akatosh from his lap. "What the hell man. You were supposed to be up by now." Gris chided him annoyed at his friend. "Is he awake?!" Weiss shouted from downstairs. The two had been let in by Blake's father, Dawson to come retrieve their friend, and were quite annoyed at the fact that he was still sleeping. "Yes, I am in fact awake!" He should downstairs. "Well then hurry up, it's time to get a move on!" Weiss shouted back up. "Yeah, what she said." Gris said going back downstairs.

Blake got himself dressed, putting on a white t-shirt under his red track jacket, a pair of dark blue cargo pants, and brown boots. He topped the look off with his trademark red hat with a white pokeball symbol on the front.

He grabbed his backpack and his thin trainer ID wristband he'd picked up the night before. The ID was resistance to just any means of normal damage and were given out for free to beginning trainers. If they were lost or damaged though, the price for a new one was 300 dollars, almost as much as his Silph Co. backpack. They used the same technology as pokeballs to increase the storage capacity of his backpack, though they could only store a max of 300 pounds, or at least the base model could. Blake unzipped it and looked inside to make sure everything he needed was all there.

Food for him and his Pokemon? Check.

Map of Kanto? Check.

Potion and pokeballs? Check.

Rope and extra clothing? Check.

He had all of the essentials packed. He just needed to do one more thing.

"Old man, I'm about to head out!" Blake said, closing the screen door. Dawson looked back at his son from the middle of their large backyard, where he was attempting to feed a baby Rhyhorn. His father was a Pokemon breeder. In his early days he was a trainer, though he never went to the League he was a powerful trainer back in his day, he even had the Kanto ACE association still calling him for missions on occasion.

"Hold on! I'll be right there!" Dawson shouted as he finished feeding the rock type before him. In five minutes he was done, he dusted himself off and walked over to his son.

His father was a large man, standing at 6'3 and weighing 260 and he had the same spiky black hair that reached halfway to his neck and the same red almond shaped eyes that Blake had. But aside from that, the two looked almost entirely different. Blake would say he looked like his mother, but he'd never met her. She'd died soon after his birth, though he heard she had the very same sharp fangs and mischievous smirk he had.

"You three are setting off on journeys of your own, eh?" Dawson smiled sadly. "It's gonna be pretty quiet around here without you."

"I'm gonna miss you too old man." Blake said, uncharacteristically sad. "But I'll be sure to update you on my journey every chance I get."

"You better. And come visit once in a while. It gets boring just being me and the team." Dawson said.

"You bet. When I return I may even be able to beat you in a battle!" He smiled.

"Keep dreaming, kid." Dawson smirked. The two then hugged and said their final goodbyes, before Dawson went back to the Rhyhorn he had been feeding. Blake returned to the house, where his friends were waiting for him.

"Ready to go?" They asked.

Yeah. I'm ready, let's go." Blake said, opening the front door, beginning his journey.

**XxX**

The three left Blake's house, out into the behemoth that was Viridian City. The city was easily the third largest of the major cities in Kanto, with its tall buildings and mostly modern styled housing. Normally one would start their journey in their home city, but Giovanni wasn't just one of the gym leaders, he was the undisputed strongest amongst them. He didn't take challenges from anybody who had any less than five badges, and he was known for wiping those trainers out. No, the three of them would be going to Pewter. The plan was for the three of them to go through Viridian Forest together, then after all of them got the Boulder Badge they would all split up and each of them would take a different route. They were doing this to ensure they all got to experience their own journeys rather than sticking with one another the whole time. After his gym battle, Blake was going to head through the forests between route 3 and route 16 to get to Celadon.

The three of them set off up north toward route 2. Akatosh and Gris' starter, Sneasel were released to walk alongside their trainers, as they wanted to wait until they settled for the night to get more familiar with their new Pokemon. Weiss didn't release either of her Pokemon because Fleur wasn't the most mobile of Pokemon and her Squirtle wasn't the most sociable Pokemon out there, preferring to stay in his ball unless he was battling. They hadn't seen any trainers, though they had encountered a few wild Pokemon while walking through the mostly flat land that was route 2, nothing extraordinary outside of your run of the mill Rattata and the occasional Pidgey. One of which Gris decided to catch.

"Guys wait up!" Gris shouted from behind the other two, they'd been on the road for close to two hours and were quickly nearing the forest entrance. The other two in the group continued to move forward without Gris, as he had slowed down to catch himself a Pidgey, the most common of the flying species of Kanto. Granted they were powerful battlers in their own right when they evolved fully, that was gonna take time. Most new trainers didn't bother catching them, in favor of other species like Dodrio or the more rare Sinnoh Pokemon, Starly. Due to factors like migration, and ocean currents, plenty of foreign Pokemon had worked their way into Kanto's ecosystem, greatly increasing the variety of Pokemon available in Kanto, including Pokemon like Budew, Starly, and even Corphish. But, alas Gris had decided on catching the Pidgey.

"Hurry up, Slowpoke! Viridian Forest shouldn't be too far ahead of us." Blake said motioning for him to catch up. "Hey Weiss?" Blake asked nudging her lightly. "Hm?" She asked. She had been mostly quiet as always, though she'd been keeping track of the path that they'd been going down. "What kind of Pokemon do you think we'll find in the forest?" He asked pointing ahead. They couldn't have been more than ten minutes away from the forest's entrance. "Reports from a few weeks ago sa'y there was a sighting of a nest of Pikachu, though those have always been found in the forest. Outside of that, probably the same Caterpie and Weedle that have been there." She said checking the news feature of the Pokedex

"Pfft, that sucks," Blake said kicking a pebble on the ground. Blake believed any Pokemon could be strong but aside from Pikachu, everything else was kind of weak. It would be foolish to believe that all Pokemon species were made equal, bug types were trash on average, though there were a few exceptions to the rule like Heracross, Pinsir and Scizor.

The three walked in silence, Gris catching up to the other two in time, Sneasel riding on his shoulders. They traveled for another hour, before finally reaching the forest's entrance, which appeared to be a whole that lead into a canopy of trees. "Finally! Arceus that took forever!" Gris exclaimed, tired of the boring route 2. "You said it. I can't wait to get into a few battles in here." Blake said in excitement. Akatosh grunted in agreement. If there was one thing the two could always bond over, it was their love for a good fight. "Hopefully I can catch something good here. Flying types are known to migrate here. It'd be nice to get something that can fly." Weiss said walking through the pathway that lead into the forest. "Lady's first," Gris said bowing low and pointing his arms to the entrance. "Shut up, man." Blake smiled and nudged his friend as they walked after their friend together.

**XxX**

Upon entering the forest, the trio was bombarded with lots of green. Green trees, green grass, green Pokemon, just a ton of green. Though, there was plenty of action to be had within the forest. They had faced off against what seemed like a dozen different trainers within their first two hours of being in the forest. Though none of them had nothing outside of your common, garden variety bug types, most of which were newly caught and/or poorly trained. Some, however, seemed to have trained their bugs to be at least a bit challenging. Inferno had been released as Blake wished to see what he could do in battle, and boy did he not disappoint.

AKatosh and Inferno each got in the same amount of battles, as it wouldn't be fair if one got to fight more than the other. Inferno had the type advantage against most of the common Pokemon in the area being able to torch the assortment of bug types quite easily, his tail flame getting bigger and brighter with each successive battle he had. When they entered the forest it took two embers on average to knock out his opponents, but as he battled more, his attacks gained more power, eventually allowing him to take out the lesser bug types they'd encountered in no more than a single ember, their chrysalis stage evolutions Metapod and Kakuna were a tad more challenging due to their higher defenses, they'd also encountered a few wurmple, common bug types found in Hoenn, though they put up a bit more of a fight, but they two fell to Inferno's impressive fire power. The only Pokemon he'd had any real struggle with was an abnormally sized Butterfree, who made use of Confusion to snuff out Inferno's Embers before they could reach it, though it too went down after a few savage scratch attacks. His tail flame was starting to get hotter and Blake was beginning a bit of a red tint in his scales. Evolution was getting closer for the fire type.

Akatosh was progressing slightly slower, but that was to be expected as dragon types grew the slowest out of every other type. Though he was easily the more powerful out of him and Inferno due to being in Blake's possession for a few months. He was doing exceptionally well against most of the stronger Pokemon they'd encountered in the forest, even knocking an enemy Pidgeotto out with one burst of Dragon Breath. He was showing considerable growth however as he was now fully capable of using Tackle to knock out the stronger bugs like one trainer's Beedrill.

By the time the time the sun had begun to set, Blake, Gris, and Weiss had made their way through nearly half of the forest. All of the battles in the forest had slowed them down a bit, though they had been expecting that. Blake was almost glad, considering his Pokemon had grown a substantial amount just by constantly encountering bug catchers and the wild Pokemon of the forest. They'd also, thank Arceus, been fortunate avoid being poisoned, which was often the bane of most rookie trainers when they were heading through the bug ridden forest.

**XxX**

By sunset everyone was tired from the consistent battles in the forest, Blake's feet were beginning to ache from the constant walking. Why couldn't people be carried around in pokeballs instead? Then he could finally rest.

Eventually the group found a decent place to rest for the night. It was a small clearing surrounded by the many trees in the area that opened up to reveal the night sky. Akatosh and Sneasel's impressive senses of smell couldn't detect any wild Pokemon nearby, so they deemed the area safe.

Everyone took seperate jobs, Blake, Inferno, and Akatosh were in charge of firewood and actually starting said fire. Gris, Seasel, Bulbasaur and Pidgey were in charge of setting up the tents and fire pit, and Weiss was cooking, as out of the three of them she had the most talent for it.

"Gris, hurry the hell up," Blake grunted, struggling to hold the large pile of fallen branches and leaves he, Akatosh, and Inferno had picked up, Akatosh held his in his fanged maw quite easily in comparison to his teammate, who was struggling with his small arms.

"We're almost done," Gris said distractedly, digging up more dirt. Weiss just scoffed and looked up at from the pot she was stirring with an annoyed expression.

"It's your fault that you got so much wood. What you've got would be enough to keep it burning for a week."

"Oh, shut it," Blake grumbled. "Now hurry up and let us put this stuff down. My arms are starting to hurt."

Weiss rolled her eyes but went back to the curry she was making. Gris finished digging up the fire pit with Sneasels help. Blake and his two reptiles threw the massive pile of foliage into the pit and sat down, rubbing his arms. He then turned to Inferno.

"Mind lighting that up?" He asked the fire type. Inferno nodded and yawned touching his flaming tail to the pile of wood, instantly catching it on fire. Blake and Gris sighed with relief as the heat began to warm them despite the cold air

The Charmander watched the dancing flames for a moment before walking over to Blake and curling up by his side. Blake petted him absentmindedly. Seeing the fire type curled up to his trainer Akatosh laid his head onto his trainer's other side wanting the same attention.

Weiss finished with the meal for the night and passed out bowls. They all sat in silence for a bit before Blake spoke up.

"So, where are you two going after we beat the Pewter gym?" He asked as he scratched behind Akatosh's ears, causing the dragon to grunt with pleasure. Gris released Pidgey so he could eat

with everyone else. Weiss released Squirtle, who seemed a bit nicer though it was possibly due to being more comfortable with his new trainer after spending some time with her in the forest.

Weiss answered first, "Well, I plan to head through Mount Moon to Cerulean. I've got the type advantage with Fleur and Squirtle is a water type himself. I figured it's the easiest path for me." Gris nodded at that before answering himself.

"Course you'd take the easy path," He teased, causing her to throw a stick at him which he dodged "I figure I'll head back toward Rock Tunnel, I want to take on Surge's gym. If I can't beat him then I'll just head to Celadon or Saffron, either of them would be pretty easy for Sneasel."

"What are you guys going to use against Brock?" Weiss asked, causing them to quirk their eyebrows. "Gris, you have Bulbasaur, but Sneasel has a type disadvantage. But, Blake you don't have anything for rock types."

"Well, Inferno has two egg moves, so I'll probably start working with those tomorrow, and I'll have to check what moves I can teach Akatosh and him to beat Brock," Blake said with a shrug. "If there's something that would be effective against Brock I'll try to teach it to them. If not I'll either find another way or catch a Pokemon that can. How about you, Gris?"

"Oh, that's easy," Gris said slowly, putting down his Pokedex. He had pulled it out and seemed to be looking at the information on Bulbasaur. "It says he knows Leaf Storm and Curse. Though, I'll have to see how good his control is with both. But I know he knows Vine Whip, Sleep Powder, and Poison Powder, and he's pretty good at using them, so I'm sure it'll work out."

"Why didn't I think about that?" Weiss asked, pulling out her Pokedex. "Squirtle knows Aura Sphere and Dragon Pulse!" She said with uncharacteristic excitement.

"What? Oh, now I really have to know Inferno's moves." Blake says pulling out his own Pokedex. He scanned the fire type, looking at the screen for the information he needed. "Inferno knows...Dragon Rush?" He said, not knowing what the move in question was. "...And Dragon Dance!" He exclaimed, Inferno had access to one of the best boosting moves out there, how could he not be excited?

The group didn't stop talking until late in the night, although as they grew more and more tired the conversation began to die down a bit. Eventually, everyone but Blake went to bed, although Akatosh was still awake to keep him company.

Blake was reading the detailed entry on Akatosh, or rather Jangmo-o as a species, on the Pokedex, carefully examining his moves. He'd picked out Iron head, which would work well against Brock, and generally be incredibly useful. There weren't many moves good against rock types, but he'd already begun to work out a strategy that should work against Brock. It would be better if he knew what Pokemon the gym leader would use, but he was sure Akatosh could take anything thrown his way.

"Hey, Akatosh." He asked, carefully nudging the small Pokemon on its heart-shaped scale. He sleepily looked up at him, his large red eyes half-closed with sleep. "How do you feel about learning to use Iron Head?"

The little dragon perked up at this, shaking his tail excitedly. He loved any chance to get stronger.

"Alright then, Me, you and Inferno will start work on new moves tomorrow. Be ready."

The Jangmo-o nodded vigorously before laying down next to Blake's sleeping bag. He was excited about the coming day.

Blake got into his sleeping bag after putting out the fire. It had been a long day.

**XxX**

Blake's awakening was not a pleasant occasion.

Blake felt something cold touch his throat and scowled as the sensation roused him from his sleep. His eyes narrowed as he began to rise, only to freeze immediately. Directly above him was a bug catcher wearing the straw hat and all, holding a katana to his neck. Everyone else was still sleeping, he had no help at the moment.

"Are any of your party from Pallet Town?" The intruder asked in a whisper.

Blake keeping his eyes on the sword at his throat, shook his head slowly, barely breathing for fear of having his throat slit. The figure's narrowed eyes softened as he withdrew his blade.

Blake kept his eyes on the sword at his throat and shook his head slowly, almost forgetting to breathe. The figure's eyes softened as he withdrew his blade. "My apologies. I was defeated by several trainers from Pall-" His sentence was cut short as Blake punched him in his left cheek causing him to fall to the ground. "I don't give two shits! What sort of dumb bastard points a sword at a person while they're sleeping. You're lucky you hadn't hurt me or you'd be dragon food!" He exclaims angrily, red eyes flashing dangerously. This combined with the noise of Blake's attack woke everyone who had been sleeping, including an irate Akatosh who was currently growling with draconic energy pulsing throughout his chest. "Now, what the hell do you want!"

"Blake, the hell's going on?" Gris murmured sleepily before seeing the bug catcher on the ground, and a seething Blake and Akatosh. "Whoa, what happened!?" Gris said, releasing Sneasel from his pokeball. "What's all the noise?" Weiss said sleepily coming from the confines of her tent.

"This bastard woke me up with a sword at my throat!" The red-eyed teenager shouted before turning back to the bastard in question.

"Oooww." The swordsmen whined rubbing his cheek. "M-My apologies, that was quite rude of me. I am Samurai of Viridian Forest! I was seeking a battle from a trainer of Pallet, I thought that one of you may have been one."

"Yeah, well that was certainly a shitty way to figure it out," Blake growled before pinching his nose. "Look, I'm not a trainer from Pallet, but if you'd still like a battle, I'll battle you."

"Very well. What is your name trainer?" Samurai asked extending his hand. Blake shook it before giving him his name. "Very well, Blake of Viridian City. I challenge you to a battle!"

"While you two do that, we're going to get ready to head out, kay' Blake?" Gris said shaking his head.

"Yeah, sure. Let me mop the floor with this guy then we'll leave." Blake said, eyes flashing dangerously.

"Akatosh, get ready. We're going to crush whatever bug type he has then we're going to take his money and leave." Blake ordered irately.

Akatosh grunted in agreement. After Inferno moved back to stand beside Blake, Samurai walked off a few paces before turning around to face him. He threw a pokeball he'd retrieved from his pocket and yelled, "Pinsir, to arms!"

Blake was almost impressed when the Stag Beetle Pokemon appeared. Though he was sure it wasn't particularly well trained, he hadn't expected to see any Pinsirs in the forest, even if it was a bug type. It didn't appear to be fully grown yet, but Blake was very cautious due to the large, sharp pincers atop its head. Pinsir were rare and notorious for their hyper aggression. Blake had to be cautious with this one.

"Watch for it's pincers on its head," Blake said low enough for only the dragon on his team to hear. "If it gets too close, get it with a Tackle and try to finish it off with a Dragon Breath."

Akatosh grunted in understanding. This Pinsir didn't look that tough. He certainly was not intimidated by it, even if Blake was being a bit cautious. This fight would be over soon.

Samurai started the battle off. "Pinsir, attack! Use Vice Grip!"

Pinsir menacingly clicked its pincers together and slowly lumbered toward Akatosh. It was painfully slow, so Blake had plenty of time to respond.

"Dragon Breath. Try to knock it out with Tackle," He commanded.

Akatosh puffed up slightly, before releasing a Dark gout of purple flames. Something Blake had learned long ago was that Dragon Breath was his most versatile move. He couldn't quite control the intensity yet, so for now it wasn't that strong. But it had the properties of both a fire attack and a dragon move. And fire was something all bug types were weak to.

Pinsir made a shrill shrieking sound, as Akatosh's draconic flames burnt its hard exoskeleton to a crisp, stopping it in its tracks.

"No! Pinsir shake it off! Use Seismic Toss!" Samurai commanded frantically.

Blake was impressed that Pinsir could still stand, nevermind fight. The bug was obviously weak and had probably only hatched not too long ago, as it looked to be quite a bit smaller than your average Pinsir. Even so, Pinsir were not only notorious for being powerful. But also for being hard to put down.

Hearing the other trainer's command, Akatosh followed through with his trainer's command. Charging forward, Akatosh used his momentum to increase the force behind his Tackle. He slammed into the Pinsir causing it to be launched backward knocked out. But Akatosh, not one to leave a job unfinished released a short burst of Dragon Breath for extra measure. Blake had won. Seeing that he'd lost, Samurai recalled the Stag Beetle Pokemon with a scowl.

"That was unnecessary. Pinsir was already knocked out after the Tackle!" Samurai growled.

Blake shrugged. He didn't give a shit, the way he saw it, so was waking him with a sword at his throat. He still had a long road ahead in the forest and didn't want to risk any unnecessary damage to Akatosh.

Akatosh looked at Blake now that the battle was over. Blake smiled and nodded. "Good work, Akatosh! That Dragon Breath at the end may have given me an idea."

The dragon in question grinned smugly but turned back to glare at the wannabe swordsmen a moment later. He was still there.

The kid merely nodded at them before speaking, "That was an acceptable battle. From here on I shall train harder, and the next time you enter this forest, I shall defeat you!"

Blake grinned. "I look forward to that, now pay me."

The kid begrudgingly gave him 200 dollars then he stalked back into the trees he'd came out of, grabbing his sword on the way. With their opponent gone, Blake and Akatosh relaxed and turned back to camp.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**What up? Sooo, you're probably wondering why I've posted this, rather than just replacing the original chapter, right? Well, it's because I want you guys to compare the two. If you prefer the original then I will delete this one. But if it turns out the is one is a better fit for you, then I will delete the other one. **

**Next chapter we'll be skipping through the rest of Viridian Forest rather quickly, so be prepared for the gym battle with Brock. If you like this story so far, leave a review and a favorite, it would genuinely mean a lot to me.**

**Until we meet again, bye niggas! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

"This is all your fault you know." Blake panted as the three of them ran. "If you hadn't stolen that Murkrow from its family!"

"How was I supposed to know it was apart of a flock." Weiss panted. "They're normally solitary Pokemon!"

"Would you two shut up! We need to focus on surviving, argue later!" Gris shouted as he ran alongside the two.

The three of them had been in the forest for the past two weeks. In that time Blake had managed to teach his Pokemon a new move each along with making them generally stronger. Inferno had started learning the steel type move Metal Claw, a move that involves making the users claws as sharp and hard as steel, turning them metallic in the process. Akatosh too had learned a steel type move by the name of Iron Head, working on the same principal of hardening one's body part, in this case one's head, until it was hardened akin to steel, contrary to its name. Gris and Weiss' teams had grown far stronger, growing to be about even with Blake's own team. Though, let Blake tell it, and he would say his team was far stronger than his two friends own. Weiss' newest teammate was the cause of their plight. Weiss had caught a Murkrow near the end of the forest, but little did she know that Murkrow had a flock, which they took out pretty easily, but within every flock of Murkrow there was always one-

"HOOOONCCCHHKROOWW!" The dark type screeched as it flew after the fleeing trainers. They'd stolen one of his subordinates, this simply could not be forgiven. The Big Boss Pokemon parted its beak, an unnatural black tinted purple light coming from within, before it was released. A huge wave of dark type energy was released from its great beak. It missed the three by a hair's breadth, hot air filling the space it had just passed, as the beam absolutely demolished several trees in a wide radius.

Honchcrow's message was clear. No more running.

The trio widened their eyes, realizing they would not be escaping without a fight. They each released their entire team. Inferno, Akatosh, Sneasel, Pidgeotto, Bulbasaur, Fleur, and Squirtle stood before their trainers preparing to do battle with the great blue crow before them. Inferno looked to be mostly Charmeleon now, being nearly covered in red scales with random patches of orange scattered throughout, his claws on his feet and hands had elongated greatly and his tail flame was brighter than ever before. Pidgey had evolved the weak prior becoming its larger evolution.

"Charmander, use Dragon Dance! Akatosh, you use Dragon Breath!" Charamander began drawing dragon type energy from himself, slowly causing a dark, black and purple to take over his body, he had just started practicing with the boosting move, but given time it would give him a boost in speed and strength. Akatosh was using Dragon Breath to cause a distraction for him, hitting the dark type with the dark purple flames, annoying it.

"Squirtle, keep hitting it with Aura Sphere, Fleur use Spore Volley!" A bright blue sphere formed above Squirtle's mouth, before he spat it forward, causing it to crash into the dark type's flank, exploding in a bright flash, Fleur released Spore Volley, a combination of Sleep Powder, Poison Powder, and Stun Spore into the air the Honchkrow resided in. Seeing the Spores flying towards it, the black bird simply gave a flap of its wings, causing the spores to be blown harmlessly into the air, too scattered to affect anyone. Squirtle, however kept releasing the spheres of energy, annoying the Honchkrow even further.

"Sneasel, use Icy Wind, then use Ice Shard! Bulbasaur use Take Down!" Gris commanded. The ice type moves would slow it down enough for them to hopefully get in some physical moves, as an added bonus they were super effective to flying types. Sneasel rushed forward at an impressive speed blowing frigid air as it jumped to meet the Honchkrow. The ice type move encased the Dark type's wings in ice slightly causing it to falter in the air slightly, Sneasel then attempted to stab the Honchkrow with Ice Sharp, before it simply dodged, causing Sneasel to go flying into a tree. Bulbasaur jumped up, coated in the shimmering white light of Take Down, slamming into the Big Boss Pokemon, only to bounce off.

"Inferno, now! Use Metal Claw. Akatosh, Dragon Breath!" THe two reptiles rushed forward toward the great bird. Inferno hooked his now shimmering silver claws into the nearest tree before jumping off to meet Honchkrow, slashing with his claws, which missed, before he swiftly turned about and blasted the flying type with a powerful Ember attack. The moment Inferno missed the Metal Claw, Akatosh released yet another Dragon Breath which managed to hit leaving singed feathers in its wake.

The three trainers looked on in horror as the now extremely angered dark type moved. With a mighty screech the dark type flew down to meet Akatosh with a glowing, black wing and slashed downwards, causing the small dragon to go careening into a large tree, knocked out. Inferno was next as Honchkrow's beak glew purple, slamming into the fire type, sending him flying back to his trainer. Sneasel attempted to sneak up behind with an Ice Shard, but before he could run Honchkrow through, the great bird's wing glew an unnatural balck, before it smashed its wing into Sneasel's face, sending him careening into the ground. Squirtle charged another Aura Sphere but it was too late as Honchrow came crashing into him, sending him into a tree, knocking him out. Bulbasaur and fleur launched a volley of Bullets Seeds, and Razor Leafs before having the attacks sent crashing back at them with many times the force they used knocking them out too. Pidgeotto finally came swooping in with a Steel Wing only to be grabbed in the talons of the dark type, and slammed into the ground, with enough force to leave a small crater in his place.

Honchkrow stood in the moonlight before the three trainers, red eyes glaring down at them menacingly, before it charged up yet another attack, the same as the first one it used. Dark energy began to glow from within the bird's mouth as it grew brighter and brighter, causing them to shield their faces. This was it, they realized, they were done for. But before the bird could use the dark type attack, a voice was heard.

"Ion, High Voltage!"

A huge blast of electrical discharge was released from the forest. The blast hit the large avian creature head on, disrupting its attack.

"KRRROOOOWW!" The large avian Pokemon shrieked as lightning coursed through its body. It recovered before being covered in a burning red light. It shot off almost faster than they could see into the forest, before being tackled back out by another Pokemon. The Pokemon in question was a large yellow, bipedal Pokémon with a white belly. It had flipper-like arms that seemed deceptively strong, despite being rather short.

"Ion, use Lightning Shroud!" The voice commanded. The large yellow Pokemon shrouded itself in an almost armor-like shroud of electricity, before launching itself forward at impossible speeds slamming its lightning covered fist into the avian creature. The dark type almost seemed to fold over the punch, with how hard it was attacked. It gave a week cry before fainting completely, being dropped unceremoniously to the ground.

The large yellow Pokemon gave a roar of victory. It canceled out its 'Lightning Shroud' before being captured in a red light and being drawn back into the forest.

From the forest out stepped a trainer no more than two years older than the three of them. He had black hair covered with a black and yellow hat turned backwards not unlike an ultraball with one large lock sticking out of the opening. He had on a red hoodie that was zipped up over a black t-shirt with a yellow backpack strapped over his back and black capris. THe trainer took out a pokeball and threw it at the Honchkrow, sucking it in. After two shakes, the ball click signalling the capture. After he picked the pokeball up, he turned to the three trainers.

"You three alright?" The trainer called out as he approached them. Blake noticed his eyes were a shade of gold. He had a kind smile on his face, unlike the glare he wore during his short battle with Honchkrow.

"Yeah." Blake responded. Weiss and Gris, like him were a tad shaken but they didn't look hurt. If anybody was hurt it was their Pokemon. "Guys, recall your teams." Blake said looking grabbing his pokeballs from his belt and recalling his two partners. THe other two did the same before turning back to the new trainer. "Thanks for saving us, if you hadn't gotten here when you did…" Gris trailed off.

"Glad to help." THe other trainer grinned. "My name's Ethan, though my friends call me Gold. What are yours?" He asked sticking out a hand.

"Gris." He responded, shaking Gold's hand. "Blake." THe fanged trainer grinned. "Weiss, nice to meet you." The blonde said politely.

"You guys are pretty good ya know. That Honchkrow has been causing issues for trainers as of late. THe league sent me to take care of it. I wanted to capture it earlier, but I wanted to see how long you guys would last." Gold said impressed. "How long have you three been traveling?"

"Couple weeks now. We would've been out of the forest a lot sooner but we wanted to spend some time training." Blake said. "We were just on the exit path when that Honchkrow attacked."

"Oh, so you guys are on your way to Pewter, huh?" Gold asked.

"Yeah." Weiss responded "Do you know how long we've got till we get there. We've been in this forest for weeks.

Gold thought about it for a minute, "Mmm, I'd say you guys are about a day away from Pewter from here."

"Really?" They all said with a smile. They were all ready to be out of there. One could only see the color green so many times before going crazy.

"Yep. Although…" Gold trailed off. "I could get you guys there a lot faster."

"What? How? You have a flying type big enough to hold all four of us? They all gave varying responses.

"No, but that would be great. I'll just have my Alakazam teleport us to Pewter's Pokemon Center." Gold replied pulling another pokeball from his belt. He pressed the release, and out came a yellow and brown Pokemon with a small mustache. "_Ethan, what is it you require?" A smooth, calm voice resounded through their heads._ "Hey, Zatanna, do you think you can teleport the four of us to Pewter City, these three need to have their Pokemon treated." Gold explained pointing to the three rookie trainers.

"_But of course."_ And with that they all disappeared without leaving even air where they had been. They simply vanished.

**XxX**

"And that's why I'm not allowed in Bellsprout Tower." Gold smiled. "Wait, you had your Cyndaquil light up the tower to recover Professor Elm's Pokemon?" Blake asked with a look of surprise. Everyone else had gone up to the individual rooms they'd rented out, so Gold decided to regale Blake with one of his tales from his first year as a trainer.

"Well, yeah. I mean, we lived, I got a nasty burn on my right arm though." He said fondly. "I was a pretty dumb kid."

"That is one of the wildest things I've heard in awhile." Blake said, amused. "What other Pokemon do you have other than that yellow one you used?"

"Yellow Poke-, OH! You mean Ampharos?" Gold said confused. "Aside from him, I've obviously got my Alakazam, I've got a Typhlosion, an Ambipom, Politoed, and Dragonite." He snickered at Blake's star-struck expression at the description of his team.

"Your team is so cool!" Blake said in admiration. "I have my own dragon type and Inferno's great, but your team is awesome. Where'd you even get a Dragonite? They're incredibly rare, even in Kanto."

Gold spent the rest of the night telling Blake random stories from his time as a trainer, as they waited for Blake's Pokemon to be healed. When they were fully healed, it was time for Gold to go, he had just wanted to make sure the rookie trainers got to Pewter okay, and found Blake in particular to be interesting.

"Well Blake, it's been nice meeting you. When you get a bit stronger I want a battle out of you." Gold said with a smirk thrusting a fist out. "You bet! Next time we meet, I'll have become champion." Blake said, bumping the fist with his own. "Not if you have to go through me." GOld said with a smirk. "I'm competing too you know."

"Then I guess I'll have to go straight through you, huh?" Blake grinned.

The two parted ways, Blake going up to the room he had rented out for the night, and Gold teleporting off to who knows where. Blake released his two partners to speak to them before retiring for the night.

The two Pokemon still looked tired from the events of the day. Inferno's flame wasn't as bright as it had been, and Akatosh just flopped onto the bed, yawning lazily.

"I'm sorry guys." Blake said looking at the state his team was in. "If we had just returned the Murkrow, none of you would've had to fight that thing. That was arrogant of us."

"It'll never happen again, I promise." He said the last part to himself more than anyone else. "_Next time, someone like Gold isn't likely to be there to help me. We have to be stronger."_

He sank onto the bed in the room, ready to forget the day's events for the night. To his surprise he felt two separate weights on his leg and chest respectively. He looked down to see his two reptiles leaning on him, looking at him with as much affection their faces could muster.

He cracked a warm smile. He reached down and He loved his team.

**XxX**

"Inferno, again, Dragon Rush!" Blake called out. The were doing some impromptu training before their gym battle in a few minutes. Inferno's eyes became slit-like as he dove at the large rock he'd been using for practicing for the past hour. Once again he bounced off of the large rock on impact, landing on his back in the sand covering their impromptu training area. He couldn't seem to accumulate the dragon type energy needed to pull the move off. Dragon type moves were notoriously difficult to get down, even for dragon types, so of course Inferno wasn't getting it, it would take a while.

"Alright Inferno you can stop, I know that has to hurt." Blake said, not wanting the fire type to end up hurting himself. Inferno picked himself up, shaking the sand from his scales. Blake released Akatosh as he had something important to say to the both of them.

"Alright guys, today's the day we take on Brock." Blake explained to his team as they got excited at the prospect of a battle. "Before we go in, I just want you two to know that no matter how it goes, I'm proud of you. Inferno you've only been with me for half a month and you've already grown so much. Akatosh, you've been with me for a few months, yet you're as strong as Pokemon who've been battling for years, you've proven to be the strong dragon I knew you were when I met you." He smiled warmly at the two of them, proud of the progress they'd made in their training.

"Now, let's go defeat Brock's team and move on to other challenges!" He pointed toward the gym with a glint in his eye, getting his Pokemon fired up. He was going to win today, before Gris or Weiss got the chance. He straightened his cap before walking toward the gym, Akatosh and Inferno in tow.

On the way their he thought over the strategy he'd put together the night before in preparation for the day's battle.

From what he'd heard about the Pewter Gym Leader, Brock only used two Pokemon in battle when he fought new trainers- an Onix and a Geoudude. Both were fairly weak, but they were expected to be somewhat skilled as they were Gym trained Pokemon. He had the two of them covered though, it was all a matter of who he'd send out first. If it was Geodude, he'd let Inferno battle first. He had full confidence in the power of his version of Metal Claw, as long as he avoided Geodude's rock type attack, he'd be fine. It was the Onix he was worried about, as they are notorious for their defensive ability, not to mention their enormous size with the average Onix being 20-23 feet long. Brock's was almost 30 feet long and that was just his low level Onix.

But, Blake had an ace in the hole to deal with the behemoth, Akatosh. The little dragon had access to Iron Head, which he had mastered some time ago, giving him leverage over the rock type. Coupled with the fact that at Onix's size, he would be incredibly slow, and Akatosh was rather agile for his species keeping up with Inferno easily.

Him and his team had this match in the bag.

He hoped.

**XxX**

The gray building before him looked old, but he felt that it matched the city's rustic feel overall. Raising his hand, he knocked three times, there was a pause before the door swung open on its own, revealing a dark interior. He stared at it for a moment before walking inside, the door swinging shut robotically behind him.

He was in a small corridor at first, but walking forward shortly lead him out an enormous stadium, with high ceilings that faded into the shadows the closer they got to the top. The walls were made of an earthy brown stone material and the floor was heavily packed dirt with random stones of various sizes scattered about. One of them looked heavy enough to be a Snorlax. The field was perfect for rock types

There was a large set of stands that encircled the entire arena, however they were empty, other than one figure currently crouched down in an almost meditative position.

He was a teenager with tanned skin similar to his own, fitted with a long sleeved burnt-orange shirt and faded green pants. He stood up unfurling from his crouched position to his full height. His eyes almost appeared to stay closed, he had a slight smile on his face.

"Welcome, are you here to challenge the Pewter City gym?" His voice was simultaneously both gruff and kind.

Blake stepped forward, "Yeah." His voice bounced around the entire room, making his words seem louder than they were, though the other person didn't seem bothered

"I am Brock, and defeating me will earn you the Boulder Badge. How many badges do you have?" The newly revealed gym leader asked.

"Yours will be the first," He smirked, stepping forward more. He was in an alcove with a set of stairs leading down to a battling platform, but he hadn't descended yet.

Brock grinned, then nodded at his answer. "I like that confidence kid, you don't usually see that in new trainers. How many Pokemon have you captured so far?"

Blake looked down at the ultra ball and pokeball on his belt for a beat, before responding. "Just two. One is my starter the other I won in a tournament."

The gym leader nodded, walking towards a wall. He pressed a series of buttons quickly, before two pokeballs emerged from hidden cavities in the wall, and next to those were several other cavities in the wall. He grabbed both of them before heading to his battle platform, prompting Blake to do the same

The gym leader nodded, turning to head back toward a wall. He pressed a series of buttons, fingers flying, before two pokeballs emerged from hidden cavities in the wall, and he could see several other cavities next to those. He grabbed them both before heading to his battle platform, prompting Blake to do the same.

A burgundy haired girl not much older than Blake emerged from somewhere, yawning gently. She trotted down to her stand, clearing her throat on the way.

"What's your name, challenger?" Brock said, voice still calm and collected no matter how it bounced around the room. He seemed very assured of himself, casually leaning against the railing and setting both pokeballs on his stand.

"Blake Larkin, from Viridian City."

Brock nodded at this. Before looking off into the stands, someone else had arrived. "Ah, hello. Are you here to challenge the gym too?" He asked. The person, a boy of Blake's age with dark-tanned skin, dark-green hair and blue eyes. He wore a white shirt with an orange tie, a dark green vest with yellow buttons and a pocket on the left side of the chest, brown shorts with large pockets, black underjeans and green shoes. "Yeah, I'm here for a battle. I just wanted to take notes on this match, sorry." He responded excitedly, saying the last part while scratching his head.

"No, you're fine, feel free to watch. You'll get your battle when me and him are finished." Brock responded before turning back to Blake.

"Yolanda, start the match!" At his call, the girl from earlier quickly ran to the referee's post between either side of the field and cleared his throat. "This gym battle will now commence. This will be a one on one match with both combatants only allowed two Pokemon. The battle will end when either side is unable to continue or forfeits. Furthermore there will be no substitutions. The challenger will get the first attack. Send out your Pokemon!"

Brock threw one of his two pokeballs onto the field and according to plan, Brock's Geodude appeared. The rock type was little more than a spherical boulder with two strong arms it used for battle. Somehow the species was capable of levitating despite its two evolutions being incapable of doing so. Going according to his plan, Blake grasped Inferno's pokeball and flung it.

The Charmander appeared narrowing his eyes as he spat a tongue of flames into the air as he caught sight of Geodude, hissing aggressively. Stoic like its trainer, the rock type was unfazed simply standing ready for the beginning of the battle. Akatosh was allowed to stay out as the two trainers prepared themselves, the grey dragon wishing to observe the battle with his own eyes. Though, like Charmander, he too was eagerly awaiting combat, a trait shared between most members of the dragon egg group. In the stands the brown haired trainer who'd arrived after Blake settled down and began watching the battle attentively.

Yolanda slashed her hand down. "Charmander versus Geodude- begin!"

"Inferno, rush it," Blake ordered.

Inferno began to run towards Geodude, giving no hint as to which attack he'd be using. That was part of Blakes's, in his opinion, genius plan. He didn't want Brock to know about Inferno's ace in the hole for the battle, Metal Claw, until he was too close for him to stop it. If he gave it away at the beginning of the match, there was a chance Brock would have Geodude fight from a distance, ruining Inferno's opportunity to defeat the rock type.

But Brock predicted this, "Geodude, Rock Throw!

Geodude slammed its powerful hands into the surrounding stone field, causing crude chunks of stone to rise from the ground. It grunted before pushing outwards with its palms, causing the super effective to go flying towards the fire type. Inferno nimbly dodged the shards of earth that were flying towards him as he continued his charged. Before Geodude could crush more stone for another round of attacks, but the Inferno was already upon it.

"Metal Claw! Make this hit count!"

"Geodude- Defense Curl!"

Inferno's claws flashed a metallic silver as he smashed straight through the rock throw to get at Geodude. The rock type quickly tucked itself into a ball, bracing itself just before Inferno slashed at it. Blake heard a grunt of pain from their opponent as Inferno slashed into it, hooking the claws of his left hand into its stone body.

Geodude shook around violently, attempting to get the super effect move unlodged from its rocky body. Finally, Inferno was shaken off of his opponent, cleaving three distinct gashes along its rocky body, The fire type skidded along the ground as he landed feet first.

"That Charmander of yours is rather well trained. Usually newbie trainers struggle to get past Geodude's defenses, but your Charmander is picking it apart, I'm impressed," Brock applauded.

"Why thank you sir," Blake mock bowed, "But flattery won't get you anywhere."

"Ha, you wish! Geodude, Rock Tomb!" Brock smirked.

"Metal Claw! Get close enough to attack!"

Geodude's eyes narrowed in concentration as it used its considerable control over stone and earth to lift several large chunks of rock from the ground. If those hit Inferno it was game over, the little lizard wasn't tough enough to withstand more than two attacks like those yet. Inferno rushed at his enemy stone rending claws reinforced with the power of steel, as the Geodude thrust its arms forward casting the Rock Tomb at Inferno. The rock type attack was coming in hot, five large boulders flying towards the Charmander with the intent of crushing the young drake. But the Charmander refused to be defeated so easily, dodging the first stone diving to the side continuing his rush forward, the others coming in quick succession as he dodged one after another, before cleaving the fifth in two with a triumphant roar. Inferno came flying straight for Geodude, and slashed the rock type in the side with Metal Claw as he came down. Geodude let out a groaning noise and was sent smashing into another boulder with a painful crash. It pulled itself back up sluggishly, glaring at Inferno.

If Blake had to guess, he'd say that the rock type was about ready to drop. He could see it in the way that it seemed to droop while levitating, struggling to keep itself afloat. Just one more attack and it'd be down for the count.

"Metal Claw one more time!" Blake exclaimed. "Finish it off!"

Inferno lunged forward, slashing at Geodude once more, but Brock had other plans. "Mega Punch!"

The Geodude's heavy fist glowed a dazzling white as it collided with the Metal Claw, overpowering it, launching the fire type back into the air. Inferno collided with the ground hard, wincing as he struggled to pick himself up from the blow he'd just taken. "_Damnit, we haven't started endurance training yet!"_ Blake thought frustrated. He hadn't known Geodude were capable of Mega Punch, though when he thought about it, that fact was quite obvious, its huge powerful arms were perfect for punching attacks. Inferno picked himself up, looking every bit as fierce as before as he glared ahead at his opponent.

Time to change tactics a bit.

"Smokescreen. Circle it and keep it guessing."

Inferno moved swiftly, running in a quick circle around the rock type, all the while spitting up a thick cloud of inky black smoke. Geodude couldn't track Inferno's movements through the Smokescreen that covered the field, unlike Inferno could track him using his predatory eyes.

Brock wised up to Blake's strategy quickly and issued an order. "Magnitude."

Blake's eyes widened. "Inferno, jump!"

He barely choked the command out Geodude smashed its fists into the battlefield, unleashing a small tremor. Inferno managed to jump just in time to dodge the earth type move, but now he was forced to stop moving around.

"Geodude, Mega punch once more!" Brock snapped.

"Inferno!" Blake cried out but it was too late. Geodude cocked his glowing fist back, and threw a powerful right hook straight into the fire type's cream colored stomach. Inferno's eyes bulged as he was sent flying through the air, a small puff of smoke erupting from his mouth as he hit the ground roughly.

From his spot on the floor, a dazzling white light glowed violently. Geodude's eyes widened in surprise, its trainer's eyebrows rising slightly. Blake grinned as Inferno cried from within the light, his high shriek deepening into an intimidating roar as he stood, his body beginning its metamorphosis. A horn sprung from his head and his snout lengthened slightly and sharpened a bit. Inferno's arms, tail and legs lengthened considerably to match his growing height, and his claws and fangs lengthened grew larger. The light exploded away from him displaying his larger tail flame, which was blazing more intensely than ever before.

The Charmeleon that replaced Inferno's old body had grown to be over two times his previous stage's height. His scales had now completely changed to the deep red shade they were now at and his black eyes had now taken on a teal hue.

Taking advantage of everyone's momentary stupor, Blake called out his next attack, "Inferno, use Metal Claw!"

Inferno launched himself at Geodude using his vastly increased speed, furiously slashing his elongated claws against his foes rock-like skin leaving long gashes along its skin. Geodude attempted to get away, but Charmeleon merely snarled and dug his claws into it, continuing his assault with his free hand.

Brock recalled Geodude when the rock type stopped struggling altogether. He muttered something to the pokeball, then looked up at Blake. That Charmand- oop, Charmeleon of yours is something else. I thought it was done for after that Mega Punch to the stomach. It's not often that a Pokemon evolves mid-battle like that."

"I thought he was a goner too, but I guess his drive to win was just that strong," Blake smiled, looking at Inferno, who grinned back at his trainer, flashing his dangerously sharp fangs.

"Is he still okay enough to fight?" Brock asked looking at the larger fire type.

"Yes, but I want Akatosh to have an opportunity to fight. Besides, Inferno just evolved, I'd hate to have him fight and injure himself or something." Blake responded to the dismay of his newly evolved Pokemon who looked at his trainer incredulously. He wanted to keep going, he could still fight. He gave his trainer a pleading look that was met with an apologetic shake of his head.

"Sorry buddy, I can't have you fight right now, we don't know how evolution may have affected you. I don't want you to hurt yourself." Blake said apologetically. "But, if you want you can stay out to watch Akatosh's battle."

The fire type grumbled, before walking up next to his trainer sullenly with his arms crouched. "A-Are you pouting?" Blake laughed before shaking his head with a smile. "Akatosh, get on out there buddy! It's time to finish this battle." He said to the dragon type, who nodded before hopping onto the battlefield excitedly, not before flicking his tail into his teammates face to the fire type's ire.

"Akatosh, let's do this!" He grinned.

* * *

**Aye, waddup niggas? How ya livin'? Good, I hope. My bad for not uploading this chapter like I was supposed to. Jesus, I'm like 3 weeks late. No excuse for you just haven't felt like writing, my bad I suppose. Anyway, guess I'll see you in another month guys. Remember, if you like this story so far, favorite, follow, and review. It fills my chest with happy feeling.**

**Anyway, the next chapter is planned to be like 10k so be ready folks.**


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